Not a Rookie: Tim Lincecum

[bigh0rt]

First off, his size. Some people worry that he’s not a huge guy, being just 5-11 and 170 pounds officially. Personally I don’t really care about that. I’m more impressed by the fact that he’s incredibly athletic. I’ve always felt the whole short right-hander thing was overemphasized by some people, and in the case of guys like Pedro Martinez or Greg Maddux or Roy Oswalt, the premium athleticism and wiry strength is much more important than the lack of height. In this regard Lincecum reminds me of someone like Bob Feller, who wasn’t a big guy at all in terms of height, but was so athletic and strong that it didn’t matter. Note that “strong” in this sense is not the same thing as just bulk muscle. It’s the combination of strength and flexibility that I’m talking about. I think Lincecum has that.

Best Case Scenario: Hall of Fame type talent (Pedro Martinez, Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens)
Medium Case Scenario: Very good at times but perhaps erratic or injury prone (Kerry Wood, Tom Gordon, Steve Blass)
Worst Case Scenario: Gets hurt and/or immediate control collapse (Paul Moskau, Balor Moore, etc.)

Minor League Ball | FULL STORY

[Grounded Polo]

This series has definitely made looking at Sickels blog worth reading recently, had gotten stale when they were trying to figure out their community ratings and John went MIA to focus on his book.

Having size is always nice because it allows more room for error in areas like mechanics but if a smaller guy like Lincecum does an excellent job at repeating his mechanics, he stands a legit shot at becoming a stud.

It's pretty funny how he has to be the most hyped up young pitcher amongst fantasy baseball geeks like ourselves.

[High Heater]

Sickels is an awesome site imo. love his new write-ups.

[hybrid]

Hey bighort, stop stealing from other sites and post your own thoughts.

[bigh0rt]

Hey bighort, stop stealing from other sites and post your own thoughts.

Shhhhh. I'm so pulling the sheep thing off.

[Yoda]

I <3 Tim

[Kingctb27]

Go on and draft him like people did Felix last year. You will be disappointed. It doesn't happen very often that a 2nd year pitches lives up to lofty expectations.

[GiantsFan14]

I <3 Tim

omgomgomgomgomg me too!!!!! we should start a fan club!!!!!

[rjforlife]

Go on and draft him like people did Felix last year. You will be disappointed. It doesn't happen very often that a 2nd year pitches lives up to lofty expectations.

Any reasoning for this besides that Felix didn't live up to expectations? Seems like kind of a blanket statement not backed up by anything specific about Lincecum.

[Tavish]

Great article. I completely agree with their analysis, Lincecum is either going to be great or above average or average or below average. Anyone thinking he won't fall into one of those categories hasn't seen what he is capable of.